Council to examine new safety measures for Slane

Demands for renewed action from the Government and the National Roads Authority (NRA) for the introduction of new measures to protect the community in Slane in the wake of last week"s nine-vehicle pile-up in the village have been made by members of the Slane Electoral Area Council of Meath County Council. Councillors meeting in Duleek last week suspended standing orders on the proposal of Cllr Tom Kelly so that the incident could be discussed. A council engineer said that he would look into the possibility of introducing means of staggering traffic volumes on the steep northen approach to the village, or the installation of chicanes, designed to slow traffic. Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne raised the issue in the Dail and also wrote to the NRA on the issue. Green Party Cllr Tom Kelly, who raised the issue at the Duleek meeting, got the support of councillors to write to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and the NRA calling on them to explain what action they propose to protect the people of the village. He said that councillors had been referring to the issue of heavy goods vehicles using the village for many years. He said the M3 would not solve the problem when it opens because it will be tolled. Driveers of HGVs were using Slane to bypass the M1 tolls but this was putting people"s lives in danger, he said. 'We must insist that the bypass for Slane is no longer deferred or delayed. With nine vehicles involved, there could have been multiple deaths,' he declared. Fine Gael Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher said that she would insist the minister and the NRA meet with Meath County Councillors to discuss the latest incident and proposed action for the future. 'We cannot continue as we are now,' she said. She said she had seen the school 'walking bus" in the village on the morning of the meeting 'and I thought, my God, what could have happened if they had been walking in the village last Monday morning?' Area council cathaoirleach Eoin Holmes said he wanted to stress the human urgency for the situation to be addressed. There are two actions they could take - to keep up the pressure on the NRA to deliver the bypass, and to look at traffic-calming measures. 'We have to actually start tomorrow to improve the safety. We can"t delay it. The atmosphere in Slane that day was awful. The solution has to be based on a number of issues and that is why we need a meeting in Slane with the NRA and the minister. Is it any longer safe for trucks to cross the bridge there or will they have to be diverted elsewhere?' Cllr Dillon Gallagher said that the Slane Action Group members were very concerned about the situation. 'They protested before about this. They will have to protest again,' she said. Engineer Barry Hanley said they had a report that there were no structural deficiencies on Slane Bridge and that it could continue to accommodate trucks. He agreed to a request from councillors to look at safety issues. Cllr Holmes said the least they could do was minimise the risks in Slane because the projected bypass could be a long way away. Separately, Deputy Byrne said that he had met with victims of the accident and raised the issue of the need for a Slane bypass in the Dail. 'The victims have told me of the horrific ordeal they have gone through. Thank God, nobody sustained any serious injuries, through the victims have been deeply affected by the accident,' he said. 'The accident has highlighted yet again the need for a review of road safety on the N2 and, in particular, the urgent need for the NRA and the minister to proceed with a bypass of Slane.' He said he had highlighted to the Minister for Transport the possibility of banning lorries from Slane village at certain times of the day, which was an issue to be taken up by the NRA. Meanwhile, the Slane Community Forum and Slane Bridge Action Group are to jointly hold a public meeting in the parochial hall next Monday 6th April at 8.30pm in light of the serious accident which occurred last week.